Lets make the SEND world, everyone's world
Making SEND a better place. For everyone.
Welcome to Trafford Parents Forum
We are so glad you have found us here in the world of SEND in Trafford! We support and work with parent carers and families of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) with or without a diagnosis across all areas of disability across Trafford.
Trafford Parents Forum is currently the Department for Education (DfE) funded parent carer forum in Trafford, established as an independent parent carer led forum in 2013 and became a limited company by guarantee, not for profit in 2014. We are led by a strong team of 10 with 8 of us being parent carers ourselves and at various stages of the SEND journey in Trafford as we believe that such 'lived experience' is invaluable to other parent carers.
The last half term has been a busy one!
We have seen STEP’s Wellbeing session; the Preparing for Adulthood day and evening sessions. Drop In’s have been very busy with Trafford’s Occupational Therapists; SENDIASS; and Mark Coates: Children's Clinical Commissioning Support Officer and many more.
Part of the TPF and STEP team will be finishing this Friday 18th October returning Monday 28th October with some finishing Thursday 24th October 2024, with a full team returning on Monday 4th November 2024.
Our Term Time Tuesday Drop In's at St Matthew's Church Hall have now finished for the holidays and will restart on Tuesday 5th November 2024.
We are really pleased to let you know about our collaboration with I SEE you. We are hosting some online and face to face Creative Projects. Please see our Events page for booking and more information.
We have a very busy half term coming up when we return in November where we will see Dad’s Group Online Session; Carer’s Rights Day; EBSNA sessions with Trafford Educational Psychologists at TPF's Office (more information below) and the SEND Week of Action which kicks off on Monday 25th November. Keep an eye on our website and social media platforms for more information.
Do you use our social media platforms? Please can you like and share our posts so we can keep our posts in your feed.
This leaves us to say that we wish you all a safe and happy holiday and we will see you when we return.
The Trafford Parents Forum Team
Trafford SEND Padlet
You may have already seen Trafford's new SEND Padlet...for your ease of reference here are the categories you can find help and information around: -
- SEND Needs
- Information and Advice for Parent/Carers
- Courses and Groups for Parent Carers
- Groups for 0-4 year olds
- Groups for 5-10 year olds
- Groups for 11+ year olds
- Events upcoming
- Links to Other Padlets
- Post 16 year olds opportunities
You can get help navigating the Padlet from [email protected]. We are also pleased to share the PADLET from Trafford Children's Occupational Therapy Team below.
Trafford SEND Padlet Trafford Children's Occupational Therapy PADLET
Occupational Therapy Motor Skills Pre-referral Information
EBSNA – Emotionally Based School Non-Avoidance
If your family is currently being affected by EBSNA, you can find help and support within the toolkit. Trafford also have a great page here, which has more information on EBSNA and links to contact their Educational Psychologist's.
Mental Health
If you need us at TPF, please don't hesitate to contact us but also know that Trafford Council has their own support page with lots of help and links where you can get support.
You can also find help and support at here at the Place2Be the children’s mental health charity. They have a wealth of experience in supporting and promoting mental health services for our children and young people.
During holiday periods for urgent support, please contact Trafford Children’s First Response on 0161 912 5125 during office hours Mon-Fri 8.30-4.30pm or 0161 912 2020 out of hours – Emergency Duty Team.
Trafford Directory and the Local Offer
If you need any general help, Trafford Directory offers free, impartial advice and guidance service connecting Trafford families, young people and caregivers with local support services. Under this service, you will find the SEND Local Offer– if you haven’t visited yet, it’s a tool to keep always as it’s Trafford offer of support for families with children with SEND.
The TPF Team
Join us on the 21st of November for Carers Rights Day, where we will be at Stretford Public Hall with Trafford Carers Centre from 12pm-7pm which aims to raise awareness about unpaid Carers. Our objective is to help identify carers and signpost them towards the support they need.
There will be stalls from different organisations offering support, massage therapies, free hot food, Q&A from Trafford’s Councillors, commissioners and GPs family entertainment and so much more.
Whether someone is a new Carer, has been caring without support for some time, or has been providing care for many years, it is essential that they know their rights and can access the necessary support they need.
Fancy coming along?
We have now registered with a great website called easyfundraising to help raise money for Trafford Parents Forum Limited - simply by shopping online.
easyfundraising turns your everyday online shopping into FREE donations when you use them to shop with over 7,000 brands such as eBay, John Lewis & Partners, Argos, ASOS and Booking.com.
Brands then make a small donation to say ‘thank you’ and easyfundraising gives those free funds to the cause.
Please register using this link – just click here to sign up.
Plus, once you've raised your first £5, easyfundraising will double it!
There’s no catch or hidden charges and we will be really grateful for your donations.
Thank you
The TPF Team
Our Vision
Our vision is to work together with the local authority, key stakeholders and other local community organisations across Trafford and Greater Manchester to share best practice and promote positive collaboration to deliver effective engagement and participation with parent carers. By increasing participation of parent carers 'lived experiences' across Trafford we aim to help improve services and outcomes for our SEND children and young people and their families.
Our Mission
Our mission is to support, empower and inform parent carers and families of children and young people with SEND so they can develop their skills and knowledge to become the best advocate for their children and young people. To help and enable our parent carers and families achieve this we mentor, support and provide information and training to develop and build their confidence and resilience.
